"The nature of this battle is simple," Osidon's voice said as I suddenly came to my senses.
After looking around, I realised that I floated impossibly above a decently sized forest, my height allowing me to see all areas that stretched before me.
At the center of the forest was a tall hill that protruded from the land and was void of trees.
"Today you will battle against the God of Foolhardiness, in what I have decided to call Fatal Chess."
The name did not sound like a battle I wished to be a part of, but it wasn't as if I had a choice.
"If you look closely, you will see your disciples standing at your end of the forest amidst the trees. They are unconscious at the moment, awaiting you to choose their starting point. You can place them anywhere you wish, as long as it is on your half of the forest. You can split them up and use tactics or bunch them all together, however, your enemy will be given the same opportunity in their respective half."
I realised why he had called it Fatal Chess. We were playing a game in this forest as though it were a checkered board.
I felt sick at the thought of treating human lives as though they were such trivial things, but I had been given no other choice.
At least none that I was willing to take.
"After you have decided where to place your units, you will do the same with yourselves. I will say no more, lest I give away information and tactics. Once you are pleased with your units formation, simply will where you wish for them to be in your heads, and audibly tell me that you are ready. At that moment you and your forces will be transported to the field and remain unconscious on your feet until the game starts."
"During the battle, you will be granted the power to telepathically send messages to a disciple of your choice, though you will not be able to hear their response.
"The winning conditions are simple. The battle will end once either all of a god's disciples have been killed, or once a god himself has been slain."
Instantly, I went over battle tactics in my head.
I was still unfamiliar with the ways of war, but I was not a complete novice.
However, most of my tactics would only work if I controlled a force of capable fighters. Our team consisted of many who had never wielded a blade in their life.
This is not the battle that I hoped to face.
The first idea I played with was starting with me and my followers all together at the bottom of the hill and rushing to the top.
There was a high chance that the God of Foolhardiness would meet me at the center, especially if he was confident in his forces.
However, I thought it was highly likely that I had the weaker units and would most likely lose in a battle of numbers, so I removed that as an option.
The next idea I considered was splitting up our forces and attacking at different points in the forest. This plan made even less sense to me for similar reasons as before.
If my units split up and were met with the entire forces of the enemy, then there was no chance that they would come out alive.
Then, a thought popped into my head.
Even though I was unsure of why I had been named god of the broken, if there was some sort of meaning to the titles, then I could surely predict how my opponent would place his units.
This is the God of Foolhardiness I am facing. Would he truly do anything other than place his units at the bottom of the hill and rush to its peak?
If so, then I had an idea that I believed could work.
---
My plan was simple but risky.
I decided that I would place all of my disciples at the bottom of the hill and order Zerlos to have them hold position.
If my predictions were correct, the God of Foolhardiness would rush to the top and see my followers at the bottom, hopefully advancing and making their way down the hill towards them.
During this time, I myself would start near the side of the hill, and as soon as the battle begun, with my enhanced speed, I would sprint around the base of the hill and flank our opponents from behind, picking them off before they could expect it.
It was the best plan I could think of, and I believed that it put myself in more risk than my disciples, which was well within my nature.
Still, when I thought more about the plan, there were many other problems that I knew could potentially arise.
No. I would be able to find problems within any plan. No tactics that I know of are perfect; a risk would always be taken.
I second-guessed myself no more and closed my eyes, imagining the forest and placing my units in the positions that I wished for them to be in.
Once I was ready, I signaled to Osidon that I was ready.
"Before I transport you both, let the rewards be known to you both. Whoever emerges victorious will be given ten new humans, all guaranteed to be skilled in specific crafts. On top of that, you will be given another barracks and some supplies to help sustain your world for a while, whilst you adapt to your new population. Finally, you yourselves as gods will be gifted a small palace as a home, built from the dust by myself. I'm sure this is good news to you both!"
Osidon let out a laugh that didn't fit the tone of the situation.
"Anyways, enough blabber," he continued. "It is time for you to enter this game of Fatal Chess!"
All went dark around me, a feeling I had begun to grow familiar with, as my consciousness left my body.
---
When I awoke I was in the forest, surrounded by nothing but trees.
My eyes were open, but regardless of how much I tried to move, my body refused to budge.
Finally, I heard Osidon's voice boom around the battlefield, coming from all directions at once.
"Let the battle begin!" He shouted.
And with that, I was granted control over my body.